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presentation.pptxHealth Psychologist
Nasser Aldossery
1
A health psychologist is
a healthcare professional in the subfield of psychology that focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses that affect overall body wellness.
What is health psychologist ?
2
Health psychologists investigate the social, biological, and psychological factors that affect the wellness of an individual.
After conducting a diagnosis by studying various symptoms, health psychologists then study how the discovery of an illness affects a patient and the factors that may affect their chosen course of treatment. Health psychologists promote a healthy lifestyle among their patients by assisting them through numerous diseases such as substance abuse. To accomplish the above duties, Dr. Dunphy sometimes carries out interviews and develops a relevant treatment strategy for her patients.
Due to my interest in this field, I recently conducted an interview with a career health psychologist, Dr. Claire Dunphy, who is based in a health center in Los Angeles, California. The following essay illustrates her job description, the responsibilities required by her job, the pros and cons of her job and approximated salary range.
responsibilities
The responsibilities of a health psychologist include
assisting people in leading a healthy lifestyle by preventing the development of diseases
forecasting illness development
discovering recovery factors
managing the pain from chronic illnesses such as cancer.
They achieve it by conducting numerous studies and incorporating their findings to develop new ways through which they can help their patients lead healthier lives.
A health psychologist also intervenes in the management of chronic illnesses by improving coping mechanisms and increasing the social support of the patient.
As per my observations during the interview, there are various pros and cons that Dr. Dunphy has had to experience as a health psychologist.
The salary and benefits package that the doctor accrues is quite good. As per her job requirements and responsibilities, it is apparent that the doctor can work in several settings. Her work is also highly specialized and as such, she has the ability to make real changes in the lives of her patients.
The field of health psychology is also relatively new and professionals like Dr. Dunphy are in high demand across the country. As much as her job has benefits, it has its disadvantages as well. For starters,
it took Dr. Dunphy a period of nine years to acquire all the necessary degrees that were required to begin practice.
In the event that Dr. Dunphy moves to another state, her license to practice will be revoked and she would have to begin the process that is required to be licensed in the new state. She is also subjected to a lot of bureaucracy in her field; I think that it is the factor that impairs her work.
Dr. Dunphy gets well compensated for her work. As per the human resource department of the Los Angeles based health center in which she works, Dr. Dunphy makes about $92,470 annually. She also has a great benefit package, which offers a full insurance cover for herself and a family, a sound vacation package and a good retirement plan to fall back on once she achieves old age. Due to the increase in demand for health psychologists, the salary offered to health psychologists is bound to increase within the next decade. All in all, the career path is great, and Dr. Dunphy seemed to be very proud of her work. The interview was delightful and enlightening.
